New Lands
by Z-Aquarius-Kai
Summary: Caspian misses his friends and a special someone. He asks Aslan to bring them back to Narnia. Aslan refuses but agrees to send Caspian to his friends but there is a great test in store for him as well as his friends. Can they do it?
1. Chapter 1

Helloo! This is my first Narnia fic. Please Read!

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><p><strong> New Lands<strong>

**1. A Wish Come True**

I looked over my people from the royal balcony. It was the 2nd anniversary of my reign. Everybody was so happy. I, myself, couldn't contain my happiness.

Aslan help me, who was I trying to fool? Beneath all this façade, I wasn't happy. Not at all. Everything I had done over the past year had been just my duty to my people. All I wanted was to make them happy.

My advisor, Drinian, hurried me down the stairs, into the main hall. The hall was already crowded. In olden days it would have been filled with people of noble birth and high intellect. But I had changed that. Now, all the talking animals were allowed. Equality and Trust were my special preaching points.

Absentmindedly I smiled to everyone and sat down on my throne. Different beasts came to wish me with presents that were priceless.

'Thank you, noble Fahria,' I broke out of my thoughts to express my gratitude as the centaur gave me a nightglass. It would have fascinated someone I knew but to me it was just a piece of glass that reflected constellations to my bedroom ceiling.

It took two long hours coupled with a couple more for the royal function. People loved me. And I loved them fondly. At the end, Harl, the magician, came forward and asked to wish whatever I fancied. I sighed inwardly. I just wanted one thing but I doubted anybody could give me that. _Friends._ It had been a year and 54 days since I had seen Edmund, Eustace and Lucy. Maybe Eustace would come again but what if he came when it was too late.

Again I wrenched myself away from my thoughts. I smiled at Harl and said, 'Let Narnia be united and happy.'

The people cheered.

I lay in bed with that horrible feeling of loneliness. Maybe it was because the Daughters of Eve and the Sons of Adam were the only friends I ever had. And there was Susan. I wondered if she still had feelings for me. But whenever I thought of her I felt confused. Did I love her? There were times in which I felt that I never could. There was something mean and fake about her. I smiled a little when I thought what would happen if I told Peter this. He would probably punch my face.

I turned to my other side but it looked like sleep was going to elude me tonight. I turned and open the nightglass. At once my bedroom was filled with stars. I tried to identify Aslan's Mane, the constellation which guided lost souls. Was I a lost soul?

The air was suddenly warm. I turned around instantly and there stood Aslan. I leaped off my bed, first bowed and then rushed to hug him. I smiled a real smile for the first time in weeks. I looked into his honey-brown eyes and felt_ belonged_ .

'My King,' he said. 'You have fulfilled your duty well. You are a leader beyond measure.'

I stood proudly and nodded.

'But,' he continued and I frowned, 'you don't seem well at heart. You are restless.'

'Aslan,' I said. 'May I have one wish? As a son?'

Aslan sighed, 'That is an appealing start. So, what do you wish for, my son?'

'Let the others come back.' I gulped. For a whole minute there was complete silence.

'You know that cannot happen, child,' Aslan's tone was soft. My eyes watered but I didn't let the tears come. After all, as a King, I have some pride.

'Please,' I tried again. As he shook his head I started speaking desperately, 'I have to see them. Just once, Aslan.' His eyes ignored me. I hit my bedpost in anger, 'Do you know how it feels to lose everything?'

'Calm down,' Aslan growled.

I sat down on the carpeted floor. When I spoke again my voice was calm, 'I'll do anything. Anything you ask.'

'Well then,' he started, 'as I cannot call them here I will have to send you to them but-'

I stared at him and then burst out laughing. '-but,' he continued, 'you will be tested.'

That stopped me from smiling. 'What do you mean?' I asked, a little worried now.

'Your time there is limited, my sooo-' Aslan's face, my room everything vanished. I fell forward but there was no floor. I kept falling, falling. Then my body hit solid ground.

I opened my eyes and looked around. What I saw was so strange. Black smoke was everywhere. There were hordes of people rushing about. All of them wearing greys and blacks. As I stood up, the whole floor started to tremble. A monster whizzed past me at amazing speed. I quickly backed away. As I saw the monster spit out people from its body.

When my nerves calmed down I heard shouting. Turning around I saw a group of fat boys beating a tall, pale, black haired boy. From what I could see the boy was single-handedly putting up quite a fight. I lunged forward to help.

I had just hit one or two of them when a shrill whistle sounded from somewhere and all the boys ran off. My friend, I call him that because I couldn't think of what to name him at that time, dragged me into a room.

'Thanks, ma-,' he said pulling of his cap. He gasped, 'Caspian?'

I stared at him in disbelief and then hugged him tight, 'Edmund, it's good to see you.' But before he could say anything more I told him of the monster outside.

'Where's it? And how come nobody is screaming?' he asked. I answered, 'I don't know. Things seem to happen differently in your land.'

I took him outside and pointed. Edmund started laughing. He laughed so much that he clutched his sides and toppled over. I looked at the monster again. On second thoughts it looked like a moving house.

A horn sounded and the 'moving house' moved off again making the whole place tremble. 'What's so funny?' I snapped at him.

Edmund stopped laughing. He said, smiling, 'That's a train, Caspian. You are on a railway station.'

'What is a train?' I asked, still not realising what was so funny. When he explained I turned red. 'By Aslan, I am foolish.'

'No, you saw it for the first time. You are not foolish but you need a serious change of clothes. Wait, first things first, what are you doing here?' he asked.

I started to tell but Edmund immediately stopped me, 'Let's go to my house. Lots of people staring at your outfit here. Besides, Lucy would kill me if she came to know that I heard your story first.'

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><p><strong>Ok, a review would definitely speed up the next chapter...so, PLEASE REVIEW! Sorry for mistakes<strong>

**Any pairing suggestions/requests for Caspian X?**

**Again Please Review!**

For Narnia!

See ya

~Zak!


	2. Chapter 2

**New Lands**

Review Responses:

lalaisland94: thank you! my first reviewer!

mg: thanks...and you gave me quite a good idea...that's going to be used a lot

Susan sewell: thanks...its ok!

Queen Isis Moonchild: i read ur story its quite good...update...n thanks.

James Birdsong: thanks

Mirage Enamel: thanks for the idea

PsychoBlonde: thanks for being interested and for the idea

TsukihanaYUE: of course i'll continue...and thanks for the idea

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><p>Note: I got three pairing ideas for Caspian from reviewers...i was so confused which one to use...chose one of the three blindly...hope everybody likes it!<p>

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><p><strong>A Visit From An Old <em>Friend<em>?**

Caspian's P.O.V.

"...and that's how I am here," I finished.

Lucy cried, "It's so nice. We saw you just two days back. And here I was being sad for never being able to see you again."

"Two days," I repeated. "How? It's been more than a year."

Lucy giggled. "Time works differently here. Years in Narnia are just a few days on Earth."

I nodded slowly and looked around. Everything was so crowded. Just a handful of trees here and there surrounded by uncountable homes. Just as many people bustled around without even greeting each other. And the cold! I shivered. Why was this place so cold? Narnia was always warm. Even in winters it was never this cold.

Edmund noticed my shivering. "Cold?" he asked. Smiling, I shook my head. I was in no mood to cause problems.

Edmund scoffed, "You are the world's worst liar, Caspian. I am sorry. I shouldn't have kept you out. But I thought we should listen to your story in peace."

Lucy answered my question even before I asked it, "You'll see."

I followed my friends inside. From somewhere a woman yelled, "Lucy, did you make tea for your uncle?"

Lucy sighed and yelled back, "Yes."

"Your mother?" I asked, curious to see Lucy's mother. She had often told me of her mother. Never having seen mine, I was looking forward to meeting Mrs. Pevensie.

"No," answered Edmund angrily. "That woman is our aunt. For the time being imagine her to be your aunt. She is Eustace's mother. Remember how Eustace was at first. Imagine a female version with ten times the nastiness."

"Isn't this your house then?"

"No," said Edmund. "Due to the war, Mother sent us to live with aunt and uncle because this place is safer."

"I see," I acknowledged.

Edmund's aunt, no, my aunt, I corrected myself yelled again, "Is Edmund home? Tell him that ruffian friend of his was here an hour ago."

Edmund sighed, "Let's go to my room or rather the room Eustace shares with me."

I followed them upstairs. Eustace looked up from his desk where he was busy filling his diary. His mouth sagged open. He stood up, still gaping, pointed at me and then sat down again. After opening and closing his mouth like a fish for sometime he managed, "Caspian? What are you doing here?"

I smiled and shook his hand. I began to tell him what had happened when the door burst open. The four of us looked at the door. Eustace closed it, laughing uneasily, "Wind."

Suddenly I heard Edmund moaning. I turned to look at him and there she was.

"The White Witch," I said, through gritted teeth.

But it wasn't her at least not totally. It was like a ghost or apparition of her. She glided towards me, "Yes, my boy. It's good to see that you still remember me." She turned back towards Edmund, "Come, Edmund, take my hand. You always wanted power. We are _old friends. _I can make-".

"Stop it," Eustace interrupted. She laughed and pointed at him. He turned into ice. Turning back to Edmund she continued, "-you my king and that too on your native land."

I saw Edmund back away and fall. Quickly I grabbed the fire poker and lashed at her. It went right through her body. She laughed, "Dear King, I am not flesh and bones unlike you and your friends." She pointed at Lucy. Lucy screamed clutching her hand. A deep gash appeared. She tried to aim a punch at the White Witch but just like before her hand went through.

The White Witch looked at me, "My deepest gratitude to you. It is only because of you that I and some of my followers escaped from Aslan's cursed land. This land will soon be mine. I don't like to see good blood wasted. Join me and you will have a place in my kingdom."

"Never," I replied.

The White Witch began whispering again in her sweet hypnotic voice, "Lucy...yes, you have become quite powerful but I see what you want. I can give it to you and you will be better than her. Just take my hand."

At that moment the door to our room opened.

Everybody turned towards the door. My heart did a flip. There stood the strangest and most beautiful girl I had ever seen. Everything seemed to stand still. Then remembering the emergency at hand, I tore my eyes away to look at the White Witch but she was no longer there.

"Where did she go?" asked a dazed Edmund. He rubbed the back of his head which had hit the bedpost. Eustace was back to normal again too.

I shrugged. Lucy looked horrified but Eustace was behaving even more strangely. He looked totally unmoved. He helped Edmund from the bed and said, "Stop making those horrible faces. Nate will think we've gone mad. Nate this is Caspian and Caspian this is Nate."

I looked at Eustace strangely. He winked and raised a finger to his lips. I shut up immediately. Of course, nobody knew about Narnia in _this _place. I looked at Nate. She had black unkempt hair which on one side was streaked an electric blue. I wondered how her hair was of two different colours. She was pale but her cheeks were pinkish-red. She wore a bright red sweater (a treat from the greys and blues I had seen English people wearing until) now and black trousers. Combat boots instead of petite shoes completed the look. She was the strangest girl I had ever seen. Maybe that was why I felt so mesmerised by her.

"Hello, Caspian," she said, putting forward a hand and smiling. I found my hand shaken roughly.

I nodded, at loss as to what I should say. At last I managed, "I thought Nate was a man's name?"

She sighed, "Yeah, I know. The name's actually Natalie Rosemer but to friends I am Nate. We are friends, I guess? Anyway, I think Nate suits me better."

I nodded listening to her bright voice.

"Edmund, are you ok? Did Eustace beat you or something? My, that's unlikely," Nate said, hurrying over to Edmund's side.

Edmund groaned, "No, I slipped."

"God, you are becoming as clumsy as me," Nate laughed. "What happened?" she said turning to look at Lucy. "You all look as if you have seen a ghost."

Lucy laughed and shook her head. After getting a poke in the ribs from Eustace he and I joined in hastily. It was then I suppose that Nate actually noticed me. Seeing her questioning gaze, Edmund started, "That's our distant cousin, Caspian, from Nar-, I mean, our native village."

"Funny, he doesn't look English at all. He looks like a foreigner and his accent-"Nate said, frowning.

"-is exactly the village accent," interrupted Edmund, decidedly.

Nate opened her mouth and then shut it. She smiled and said, "But what is the problem?"

I gaped. How did she know there was a problem?

Lucy looked at me and laughingly informed me, "Nate always knows what people are thinking." Continuing she told Nate, "The problem is-Where is Caspian going to stay? Our aunt won't allow him here and he has nowhere else to go."

I looked away. That was exactly what I had been thinking ever since I had entered this house.

"Why?" asked Nate.

Edmund smiled mischievously, "Because he is poor and has no money."

I glared at him. He was having a lot of fun at my expense. Calling a King poor!

"We have to think of something," said Eustace thoughtfully.

I asked Nate, "Where do you live?"

"The house behind yours," she answered, "but if you think that you can stay in my house you are wrong. I live with my grandparents who already wish that I wasn't alive. If it were mine you would have been my guest for sure."

"Where are your parents?" I asked inquisitively.

Her brown eyes looked at me. I felt myself swooning under her gaze. She looked away and answered in a sad voice, "They are dead. 'Were research doctors who died when their tent was bombed during this damn war."

I looked at her melting brown eyes which were full of sorrow, "I am sorry."

She shrugged her shoulders and said brightly, "I have a wonderful plan. We don't need to tell your aunt you are staying here. You can hide in this room. All of us can get you food from the table."

I immediately began to protest but Lucy burst in, "That's an amazing idea. Say yes, Caspian, please."

Of course, after that Edmund and Eustace approved of this plan too. What can I say? I was outvoted.

"Well then, see you all after dinner," with that Nate was gone.

"What was that?" I asked shocked.

Edmund grinned, "That, brother, was my best friend."

Somehow, for no reason, those words stung me. "You never mentioned her," I said, my eyes narrowing accusingly.

"You never asked," was the simple reply I got. Eustace called him, "Edmund, help me borrow some clothes from Father's cupboard that would fit Caspian."

I was left with Lucy. "Never thought Edmund would be friends with a girl," I said cautiously.

"That's because Nate doesn't act like a girl. She is very rebellious and that makes her Edmund's equal. You know they constantly get into trouble at school. They are as thick as thieves even though they just met this year. I like her too. She was the only person good to us when we first came to Eustace's house. She is like that. Good to everyone. I daresay, she would be good to even the White Witch."

I listened to her constant chatter but the last words made me stiffen. Was it just a coincidence that as soon as Nate entered the room the White Witch vanished? Where had the witch gone?

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><p>Please Review!<p>

And all ideas, theories are welcome!

-Z-A-K


	3. Chapter 3

WE MEET A HAG!

I looked out of the back window in Eustace's stuffy room. There were no trees, no open land just a wall of the neighbouring building. I sighed. What exactly had I gotten myself into? My friends were currently downstairs trying to steal food for me from the dining table while I sat alone and a _little_ hungry here. Then, there was the White Witch. How had she come here and what were her plans? She had mentioned a kingdom in Edmund's native land, that meant she was trying to take over EnglishLand or whatever this place was called. We were in trouble, great trouble.

A noise from outside caught my attention. Nate was climbing the fire escape stairs up to my window balancing a plate in one hand and with the other hand holding another person's hand.

"Greetings," I said.

She gave me a strange look and said, "If you mean Good Evening then same to you. Here, take this."

I took the plate from her hand and my stomach rumbled as I looked at the food. I could hardly remember the last meal I had. Nate's companion came next. I offered the heavily scarfed figure my hand but she nimbly came in without my help. Shrugging, I turned to my food. Mince pies and some veggies. I swallowed one whole before a crash jerked me back from my slowly content state.

Nate was lying face down on the floor. "Oof, why do people make window sills in such a way that explorers like me just have to trip over them," she cried, getting up and nursing a knee.

I laughed and asked, "Are you fine?"

"Yes," she smiled. "Just bumped all over."

"Whose she?"I pointed to the third occupant of the room.

"She? She is a rather interesting person I met outside my house a few minutes ago. That reminds share your foo-"

Before Nate could continue, the so called interesting person twitched awkwardly and then bowed deep, "King Caspian."

And that was how Lucy, Edmund and Eustace found me, standing beside a bowing (A/N I know she should curtsey but bow suited better) girl.

All of us looked at first the girl and then at Nate until Edmund suggested, "Suppose we have to tell Nate now and who in Aslan's name is this?"

"This is Medusa," commented Nate, brightly. Medusa uncovered her face and all of us Narnians visibly cringed. She was a hag. A typical hag with green skin and damp hair and weird smirk.

"I told you! Nobody would accept me," Medusa cried.

Nate moved towards her quickly and pressed her shoulder comfortingly, "That's because they don't know you yet. It takes time to adjust. Soon we'll all be the best of friends. Right, everybody?" The last couple of words were said in such a ferocious tone that I found myself agreeing.

"And," she continued; "how about now I get to know the full story?"

And full story she got. Edmund, Lucy, Eustace and I told her in bits and pieces. Every now and then I looked at those brown eyes that made me all strange and shivery, to see if she really believed what we said or was she just taking it as a jest. But Nate seemed a very extraordinary girl who was all ears and listened seriously to our narrative. She was very excited to meet a _real _king, as she suddenly referred to me. Then with our eyes full of distrust we looked at the hag, Medusa. It was Edmund who asked,

"And what is your story, hag?" Medusa seemed to have gone speechless as she looked at King Edmund.

Nate spoke from the chest of drawers she was perched on, "She has a name, you know."

I saw Edmund grit his teeth and nod.

Medusa spoke in her rasping voice, "I was brewing a potion in the woods when I was suddenly drawn into the other world. When I adjusted my vision again I was outside a monster's haven. I ran as fast as I could and was wandering in the streets till Nate (she seemed unsure of the name and looked at Nate for approval, who nodded and beckoned her to go on) found me."

"Any idea what you are doing here?" I asked, narrowing my eyes and looking at her very closely so as to see if she was going to lie.

She started and looked at me with her cold grey eyes, "Why of course! I and some others came along with you, sire."

Lucy asked, "Others? You mean the White Witch?"

"Yes, my Queen."

"Any idea how to make her go away?" Nate asked. She seemed to have paid great attention to our story if she understood what a threat the White Witch was.

Medusa smiled, "I have a clue. See, we were brought accidentally with the King."

"Stop," said Nate. "If you call any of them King or Queen again I'll throttle you. I don't care what they were in Narnia, her everybody is equal. Use their names, please?"

I looked at the black haired girl beside me. She turned to look at me defiantly. I gave her a small smile which she slowly returned along with a surprised quirk of a brow.

"Pray continue," Eustace egged Medusa on.

"Well, I understand that us Narnians cannot survive at a distance from Ki(a noise from Nate here)-I mean-Ca-Caspian. So, till we find a permanent cure we can move to some less inhabited area and at least find out how many minnions she brought with her."

The plan sounded fine but Lucy spoke, "Liar. You are a hag. Your kind have hated us for years. Why all this friendliness suddenly? I feel this is a trick."

Lucy had a point here. We couldn't just trust anybody least of all a hag. But what if Medusa was saying the truth?

"I say we do what Medusa says. We will just imprison her if she starts acting strangely," said Edmund decidedly and immediately got a gorgeous smile from Nate for this.

I scowled. Who made Edmund the leader?

"Any place you have in mind?" I asked icily.

Nobody answered. Eustace slapped his forehead, "What about the Professor's house you people keep telling me about?"

Lucy ignored him sullenly; apparently still upset that we were shaking hands with a hag, while Edmund nodded, "Right. We could go there."

"But-" Lucy broke in, "what about Aunt?"

"We won't tell her. Eustace can explain afterwards that we have run away and she can send our funds to Professor."

"I don't think-" Lucy tried to reason with her brother who was being over imaginative and over excited but Nate interrupted.

"Bingo! I am in. When do we leave?"

"You are not coming," Edmund and I echoed. I looked at him, surprised. I had no idea Edmund was this caring to people outside his own family. Did he like Nate? 'Like' as in 'Lov-Focus, Caspian, focus. Remember the matter at hand. Think about Edmund and his love story later.

"Please," Nate was pleading, her brown eyes looking so cute as she tried to convince us. "I have no one here. My grandparents hate me. What if they kill me someday? Nobody would even know. I want to come and save the Universe (here I tried to convince her that the whole _Universe_ was not under danger but her next words caught me by ummm jealousy?). Besides, I would die without you Edmund. You are my best friend!"

Edmund smiled, "Don't try emotional blackmail on me. You know it won't work."

"Gah! You are heartless. At least you should have told me before, I wouldn't have wasted time, my breath and my creative genius on thinking up good sentimental sentences."

Inspite of myself I started laughing at the two of them.

"Wait a sec, I am not going to be left behind either," complained Eustace.

"No, Eustace. You have to stay and see that Aunt and Uncle don't get too upset," Lucy said in her softest voice. I noted that she was all of a sudden agreeing to the plan.

Valiant Lucy! She was going to come along despite her misapprehensions. After much talking we persuaded Eustace to stay behind. Nate however was bent on accompanying us, not that I minded her coming along but-

"Nate, you can't come, it's too dangerous," I tried to reason with her and the tiny lovesick part of my brain.

"Please, Caspian, please. Besides what danger is there? I promise I'll return at the first sign of danger," her brown eyes were making it very difficult for me to contradict her.

I tore my eyes away and turned to Edmund, "What do you say? Should we take her?"

He shrugged, "Her choice, you know."

"Okay," I said making a face. "You can come along."

"And Medusa is coming too," she replied happily.

Edmund said shortly, "She has to come anyway, you know, she can't stay far away from Caspian."

0000000

Edmund believes in doing everything at the moment. So, when the plan formed he preferred to implement it then and there.

All my friends, not counting Medusa as a friend, because we (with the exception of Nate) still don't trust her, were busy hunting up coins and paper money, which they called notes for some reason, from various nooks and crannies. The lack of my contribution still troubled me but unless one of us was ready to go out in the cold, in the middle of night, to a pawnshop, my contribution would be the same: nil. Feeling a bit indebted, I did offer my emerald ring to Eustace but his encounter with the cursed gold last year seemed to have an effect on him, "No, thanks, Caspian, but I don't want to wake up in your body tomorrow."

"You would be taller," I suggested smiling, "and a lot better looking too."

He scoffed.


	4. Chapter 4

New Lands

Friends?

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><p>We left for the railway station at around four in the morning after checking that there was a convinient train for our desired destination.<p>

I could see that Lucy was worried but she did her best to not show her fears. We bid goodbye to Eustace who was still sullen at being not allowed to accompany us.

As I warily stepped into the carriage I remembered Jadis, the White Witch. Where was she? Was she going to travel in this very train, somewhere very near? Then it struck me! Nate! If my tiniest shred of doubt was to be believed then Nate and Jadis were the same. But no! Can't be. There were to many facts supporting her. I had to discuss this with Edmund.

"Edmund, I was wondering if you trust Nate?"

Did I say anything about Edmund being stubborn and offensive? I'll say that right now. That is the major difference between Edmund and Peter. Peter, no matter what the topic is, will always listen to the pros and cons of it. Edmund? Edmund will smash bang in to the middle of the topic without even hearing half of it. The present situation was a perfect example.

"Listen, Caspian, I don't care what _you_ think about my friends but I would like it it if you didn't come to me asking such questions." With thay he walked away in a huff.

I turned the other occupants with a helpless grin which was returned my Lucy solely. Nate give me a horrible scowl, which convinced me more of her being Jadis or atleast an accomplice of Jadis. Nate, after giving the afore-memtioned scowl, she marched out of the compartment. Medusa, still hooded and scarved, followed Nate after a few seconds of the odd silence which had enveloped the compartment.

00000

Medusa's POV

Where did Nate go? I was pretty sure that I was right behind her till I found out that all the time I had been following another girl. Aslan, there were so many people here.

I turned back, or so I thought after wandering about this huge machine that they call a train. On and on and on. I found more people and more compartments. After my seventh one I found myself in an open carriage, the last one on the train.

The wind hit my face and my hood fell back. I smiled. For the first time since I had come in this awful world, not that Narnia was any better, I felt better. I felt happy. I laughed.

A cough from my side warned me of some one's presence. I jumped and pulled up the hood hoping that the person was blind. I breathed a sigh of relief when I saw who it was. Edmund. I gave a nod and turned to go, making up my mind to tell Nate that I had found Edmund as soon as possible. He looked pretty bad.

"Its fine," his voice reached me. "You can stay, if you want."

I turned, really wanting to escape him but knowing that it wasn't right to leave him, asked, "Want to talk about it?" _Please, please, say no._

"I just hate it when Caspian goes all Kingly. I hate it when he looks at Nate with that look of suspicion in his eyes. I hate it that he just comes and expects me to agree with everything he plans and I hate it that he wants me act like Peter," he stoped to catch a breath.

I stood, speechless. Who would have thought that the kings had problems with each other?

"My king," I began.

"Call me Edmund."

"Alright. I don't think Ki-I mean-Caspian expresses his authority on you. On the other hand, I feel, he tries his best to talk as tenderly as he can to you."

Edmund interrupted, "You are taking his side? I can't believe this. I don't know why I bothered talking to a hag. Servant of Jadis!" He shouted out the last part before moving towards the door.

Well, that's about when I lost it. Without my knowledge, words began to spill out of my mouth, "You are so wrong to accuse Caspian of suspecting Nate when you do the same to me. You are just jealous to the hilt."

Edmund stopped but I was too angry to get scared about him being angry.

Whatever I expected, it wasn't a hand on my shoulder and the look of poor apology on his face. "I am sorry. I shouldn't have said that. Believe me, I do trust you. Its myself I don't trust. I am always the one who is wrong, always the one who chose wrong and did wrong. I have tried my best to change but..."

What can you say to a guy like that? Completely forgetting that it was me who needed sympathy, I said, "Don't worry, you are not 'wrong'. And thanks for saying that you trust me. You don't know how much that means to me."

His troubled hazel eyes turned to me and seemed to lose some of the trouble-ness.

"I suppose I have to go and apologise to that ass now. Hurts my ego, you know," he grinned reverting back to his original, i-don't-have-a-care-in-the-world self. This guy had serious mood swings.

I smiled. Seems like I had made another friend.

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><p><strong>Be an angel and just ignore the mistakes, ok? <strong>

**Thanks for all the alerts and favourites and reviews, people! If you have time do try the poll on my profile. New Lands is not doing well there. Do show your support because that's the order in which I update.**

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	5. Chapter 5

**New Lands**

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><p><strong>Thanks so much for alertingfavouriting people. You all are tremendous support. I am really very sorry for not updating sooner. School life is barring my writing *sigh*. **

**Special thanks to Duchess of Decorum (**_thanks, you made writing the last chapter worthwhile. This one is short too_ ;(**), MCH (**_Thanks for approving. I know the hag angle is different but its definitely worth a_ try**), darkness swells around me (**_Thanks so much. Actually I'm not that good with slash_ so...**) for reviewing the last chapter!**

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><p><strong>5. I Pass Out From Exhaustion<strong>

I must say I was surprised when Edmund came to me with a gruff apology. I was even more surprised to see he came back with Medusa. I was astonished to see that they were laughing.

Nate returned near the end of the trip. I gave her a small smile hoping she had not overheard my previous conversation and if she had she would somehow forgive him. Sure, she might be evil but that was 50-50% chance after all. Maybe I was wrong and if I was then I was going to regret it.

Nate returned my smile with a huge one of her own. I grinned. It looked like everything was ok.

We got down at a deserted station but the place itself was beautiful. It was green and hardly crowded. There were fewer houses, more trees.

You could say I liked this place. Edmund took down his and Lucy's bags. Medusa didn't have anything to carry. I heaved the slingbag Eustace had stuffed with some of his father's clothes. I was about to follow when I made one of the nicest decisions of his life. I turned and took Nate's bag with a heroic smile. She persisted on carrying it herself but eventually she let me play hero.

I started having serious doubts about whether me suspecting her of being Jadis's accomplice was right or not.

I am accustomed to travelling horseback and from the last few days I had hardly got any sleep at all. Fifteen minutes and I was regretting my offer of carrying another bag.

Somehow I managed to not collapse and shrug off Nate begging to carry herown bag. At last we reached the house. It was nice and homely. The door opened to reveal a plump, old woman who scowled at us, "Pevensies?"

Edmund nodded, giving a scowl in return.

"The Professor is in the study," she informed before turning away, nose in the air.

"Wow, the Professor's wife is really snappy," Nate whispered. I nodded.

Lucy led the way running at top speed to the study. We trooped in to hear her squealing, "I missed you so much, Professor."

There stood an old, stocky, bespectacled man with a kind expression. He patted Lucy's shoulder exclaiming, "My, you have grown so much Lucy. Quite a young lady now."

Lucy smiled while Edmund greeted the Professor a little warily. Then, the Professor looked at me and stopped as if shocked. I had a sudden urge to look at a mirror. Was there something on my face?

"You're a Narnian!" he gasped at last.

I would have nodded and smiled in my Kingly manner but the room was spinning, spinning so quickly that I felt myself rise as if flying. I crashed to the ground losing balance.

And then it started...

"Ah, my King, ready to join hands?"

I looked up. Sure enough, there she was. The White Witch.

I jumped up and searched the room for the others. There was no one there. In fact, the room wasn't there at all. I was in a forest. There was a fight going on and from the looks of it people were dying.

"Give up, Caspian," another voice said. It was Susan with her legendary bow and arrow. Her wavy, brown hair fluttered in the wind. She looked beautiful and comforting but she wasn't on my side. She was laughing at me. I felt drained watching that cruel smile on her face. "You want an easy life, right? Just help Jadis with this one. Then, you and I-"

"Stop," I said, "there's no you and I."

I gasped as Susan's image vanished like dust blown away. In her place stood my father. I smiled a little looking at him. He smiled back. That's when I lost control. I rushed forward to hug him, only when I was near did I realise with a sick feeling, he wasn't real. He was just an apparition, an image. I knew he was dead but somehow seeing him had made me hopeful that maybe, just maybe, he could come back. I felt something like tears pricking my eyes.

I felt Jadis's arm on my shoulder and shuddered at the touch. She was real alright.

"I could make him come back for you," she did sound really concerned. "Except I'll need my full powers for it and for that you need to help me. You will, won't you King Caspian? For your father?"

I looked at her in disbelief as sounds of swords clashing and groans ripping the air surrounded me. She could really do that? I opened my mouth to agree when a distant roar jolted me. Aslan! I looked in the direction of the sound and there he stood. So magnificent except something was wrong. He looke angry. I know what I had been thinking was wrong and the knowledge made me tremble. Aslan is very scary when he is angry. He lunged forward with lightning speed and even though I am a trained warrior I could not dodge. His claw grazed my side and I screamed.

When I opened my eyes he was gone. It looked as if Jadis had not realised what had happened. She still looked proudly hopeful but Aslan has a sort of aura which makes you see clearly and whatever plans I had in mind before-Aslan! I could see I hadn't been thinking right. I slapped my forehead. How could I have been so stupid?

I heaved a sigh of relief and said, "Sorry, I am a little too old for believing in fairytales, especially those spun by witches."

She screamed in anger, "I tries reasoning but looks like I'll have to resort to better methods."

Magically a bow and two arrows appeared in her hands. The trees parted and she aimed for two people. A girl and a boy.

"No," I shouted recognising Edmund and Lucy.

"You will help me?" she asked, smiling coldly.

I didn't answer.

She shrugged and freed the arrows. I knew they were going to hit the two people I valued most in the world.

I woke up panting and sweating. I was in a bedroom, lying on a comfortable bed while the evening light peeked in from the curtains. I groaned. My head was paining badly. I rubbed my face still agonised by what I had seen.

"Calm down, Caspian. It was just a dream," I got up so fast that I fell down from the bed. "Whoa, are you okay?"

There was Nate sitting happily in the rocking chair, reading some book. A small voice added in my brain, _a little too happily_. Remembering my argument with Edmund I shrugged off the suspicion and concentrated on more important matters in hand.

"Had a bad nightmare?" she asked closing the book.

"How do you know?" I asked, snappily. Was there a connection between the dream and Nate? Was she responsible in some way?

She seemed at unease, "Well, you were muttering quite a lot and thrashing and groaning."

I felt myself going red. So, I had made a complete fool of myself in front of the girl I like/suspect. I ran a hand through my hair, "Oh, what was I saying? Nothing embarrassing I hope?"

"Nah, you were just calling your father, I think," she answered.

"Perfect," I said, getting up and wincing as a burning pain greeted me somewhere in the ribs. I lifted my shirt a little to see a healing claw-cut on my side, on the ribs.

"Oh my God, you hurt yourself pretty badly when you passed out and hit the floor," she remarked following my gaze.

I nodded but my mind was somewhere else. This nightmare that I had now seemed more real.

"Why are you here?" I asked Nate.

"Oh, everybody went to sleep and Professor said that you might not be feeling well so I volunteered to stay up. He's awake too but he's busy writing some story for his granddaughter. Pretty passionate about it. I saw his library. Its huge and filled with books I have always wanted to read," Nate seemed really excited and wide awake for someone who had not slept most of the night but when I looked closer I could see dark circles beneath her eyes and she did look tired behind her huge smile. Suddenly I felt really bad. Here was the most beautiful girl in the world and all I was doing was wondering that she just might be a witch while the girl herself was being nothing but nice.

"You should go catch some sleep," I said.

She nodded and walked out, switching off the light bulb (very handy things, these light bulbs by the way). "Umm, Nate?" I called after her but she was already gone.

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><p><strong>Sorry for any and all mistakes and typos. Will update sooner next time. Please REVIEW coz REVIEWs=Happy ME=INSPIRED ME=FAST UPDATE!<strong>

**See ya next time XD **


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